I would agree about maybe that Starz series about gladiators, but the rest... I think HBO's stuff is the best TV on TV short of Walking Dead!

Rome, Deadwood, Sopranoes, Boardwalk Empire (I'm not a big fan of many of the other shows but I know they have strong followings)... Those are good programs. Rome and Deadwood went away, way too early.

I don't think Lucas would throw out a titty for ******* sake though ya know? I could see death getting amped up a bit, but maybe not gratuitous violence. When you think about it though, the OT especially was pretty violent.

Meh, IMO the franchise could use a little "adultening". I would love to see a darker, more serious tone. I wouldn't worry about them going over the top, Lucas would never allow that. But I do think they can explore more themes, deeper characterizations, etc that don't lend themselves easily to action movies intended as family fare.

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I promise you I will not entertain you in the hallway, and do not attempt to walk with me

I just hope it doesn't turn out to be nothing but graphic murder, soft porn and language fest like so many other pay tv shows are. I want to see good sci fi that is both entertaining and makes you think not something totally depressing or over the top. If they can keep it PG or maybe PG13 I'll be happy.

Boba Fell will get it on with Rystaal (that dancing chick from the Jedi Special Edition) in this adult TV series. Mark my words!

It sounds like HBO is out of contention for this series. Apparently they're much more interested in ownership of the series that wind up on HBO, and Lucasfilm isn't interested in sharing that or the compromises in creativity which that would mean. It's unfortunate in a way since HBO original series' have had the best track record of almost anything on premium cable. But given the serious committment HBO has made to Game of Thrones it would be tough to imagine them committing to a Star Wars series as well.

So what other outlets are there? I would have thought FX based on Lucasfilm's relationship with Fox. But based on what I've heard about what FX can pay for programming, this series might be more expensive than what they can afford. So the big issue seems to be Lucasfilm developing things to the point where they can get the cost of production below $5 million an episode.

After watching the interview, I think this is a very back burner project now. Rick seemed most excited about a streaming broadcast on Apple tv. It seemed to me like he is waiting for Nielson to collapse and see what rises from the ashes. The ad industry is too tied to Nielson, I just don't see this being a reality for another 10 years. More likely this could be, gulp, direct to DVD fodder. And we know what the quality of that normally turns out to be. The other possibility is Lucas leather bounds the scripts and sells them as a collectable at a premium price to recoup what has already been invested.

What is the issue with Nielsen? I would think sponsors would be lining up for this show.

Nielsen probably cannot account for the varied delivery systems people are using to watch television at this point in time. They're still very much tied to the old methods of measuring how a show does in an individual time slot. But programmers are running their shows in multiple time slots in order to accomodate a wider audience, and get ad revenue from multiple airings.

There's also the varied digital formats that people are using to watch their shows. TV shows are on iTunes, as well as the websites of networks and VOD services. Nielsen doesn't seem prepared to deal with this broad-based way of measuring a total audience across all of these media at this time.

It seems to me that Nielsen won't exist in a few years. There is no way they can track DVR or internet usage. The networks themselves can grab the internet numbers. If I remember correctly, the Nielsen ratings comes from an extra cable box connected to the tv. It will know if you record a show but not if you actually watch it.

Yeah, that's called the Nielsen people meter. And even when viewers were consuming all of their television live there were flaws in that system. It couldn't account for how many people in a household were actually watching a show.

As for selling the show to a network, McCallum made it clear that HBO wasn't in play because they won't give Lucasfilm complete creative control and they want some level of ownership of the show. I imagine that's going to be a sticking point with some other networks as well. And then there is Lucas's outsider status with Hollywood. He's done some amazing things on his own, but look at the obstacles that he had in getting Red Tails made and distributed. He's been quoted as saying that he had to pay to have the theatrical prints made himself. So it comes down to who is going to do business with Lucas AND provide the budget that the show will need in order to get made.

It seems to me that Nielsen won't exist in a few years. There is no way they can track DVR or internet usage. The networks themselves can grab the internet numbers. If I remember correctly, the Nielsen ratings comes from an extra cable box connected to the tv. It will know if you record a show but not if you actually watch it.

There is a box connected to the TV for some. I once participated in the Nielsen ratings and they sent me a log book that I wrote down what shows I watched and at what times. This was back in 200 or 2001, long before DVRs were popular. If they are still using the logbook method, it would not be hard for them to update the way shows are logged to track DVR usage.

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Peacekeeper, when it absolutely, positively has to be nuked in 30 minutes or less. Or the next nuke's free!

The logbooks have always been very inefficient. I took part in Arbitron ratings back in the 1990's and they had you log everything in the book. But people don't always have them handy. They forget to log things. And they aren't always truthful about what they're watching or listening to. The people meters have historically been more reliable, but those have their faults, too.

Nielsen could conceivably partner with cable carriers and DTV providers to get viewer data that way. And given the nature of cable delivery systems this would likely provide the clearest picture of actual viewership nationally. But the providers aren't necessarily going to play ball and provide all of that data. Most likely because those viewership numbers play into the negotiations between the providers and the cable networks they pay to carry.

Another McCallum interview, as per our front page, has him quoted as saying the live-action show is like, "Deadwood in space".

I find this bold... they've hinted in the past that Lucas was kind of enamored with the HBO series like Rome or Deadwood, and I can only imagine he's into Game of Thrones, but hinting that the new show could be anything like Deadwood is pretty specific.

I have a hard time believing this... There's a difference between what Deadwood was, and simply not gearing something towards kids at all. There's a hefty grey area between those two things I think, so I find the comment hard to live up to.